Aggressive or Over sensitive Abs When snowing - 5th gen 4runner

So basically I live in good old Quebec, I have 2021 4runner and the brakes suck when it snows. I have bridgstone blizzarks V2 on some replika wheels. The Abs just goes of when there is a an inch of snow. I always keep a safe distance from the car in-front of me and brake gently and decelerate slowly, but when it gets to the last few inches of stopping distance to get to a complete stop my ABS turns on for no reason the brake pedal shakes and I lose all braking power. I feel like I am always going to crash on 10 km/h. Today the same thing happened on a red traffic light.
Any ideas what to do?

 

I've had the same experience. I "think" that you can deactivate the ABS when pushing and holding the traction control button for at least 5 seconds while stopped. I deactivate mine all the time and pretty sure the ABS gets kicked off as well.

PS: Dunno about "good" ole Quebec, but I'm from the South Shore of Mtl. *wink*

 

Hahaha close enough. Thanks, i thought of doing that. Do you disable traction and stability control or just traction?
Also, wont i lose traction if i turn off “traction control”. I thought I should only do that when I am stuck.

 

Yes, you do. I'm old-school and hate that stuff. I'll use it in dry conditions but when it snows, it all gets deactivated. The ABS alone has caused me a couple of close calls in snow when city driving

 

Yeah me too! Well that sucks I think i will leave the stability control on and see what happens. I never found it lacking on high speeds its just in the city coming to a complete stop sometimes is scary.

 

yeah the suddenly shifting and losing all power is a bit stupid, always assumed it was because I was just running the stock highway tires.

I don't have the patience for two sets of tires and haven't got around to getting ATs yet so I lean on 4WD quite a bit right now.

 

I basically drive a limited so its all time 4wheel drive. Does not really help and thats with winter tires.

 

Interesting. I've experienced the ABS kicking in when slowing to a stop on snow, but attributed that to the crappy OEM tires on my Limited -- because, and here's the key, the truck would also slide even with the ABS activating. Clearly, the ABS is not overactive if the truck is sliding. It's exactly when sliding that you need the ABS. That's what it's for.

Would like to hear what others are experiencing, but would be surprised if the main issue is the ABS system and not the tires.

Also, the idea that one loses all control because the ABS kicked in doesn't make sense. ABS is there to restore some of the control you're losing because your tires lost grip. Sure, it would be annoying if ABS activates when not necessary to prevent sliding, but it's hard to see how that would be happening. The whole thing is designed to operate only when the vehicle is moving despite the tires not rotating -- aka you're sliding.

 

Okkkk so ….. I do agree with you the abs is trying to help but fails, and funny thing the same issue just happened to me 5 mins ago. I think my solution is to press the brake firmly like to the maximum peak and it helps. The abs does not take over 100% but I lose most of my breaking power and I need to press the brakes extremely hard. Also, I disagree about the orm tires, because I am running winter tires.

 

I don’t think the “Trac/Vsc”switch turns off the ABS but I could be wrong. I wasn’t crazy about the electronic systems either but I have experimented with them on and then off in slick winter conditions and I’m sold on them. IMHO they help a lot.

 

I was under the impression that ABS does not engage at very slow speeds like under 5mph, at least on some cars. Is that not the case?

 

I’ll add that I drove my wife’s 2021 Passport in the snow recently and it’s ABS also kicked in when coming to a stop at slow speeds. The difference was that it worked — the truck didn’t slide anyway. In the same snowstorm my 4R on its OEM tires (which are known to suck in the snow) slid 5-10 feet at very slow speeds with the ABS activated the whole way. I was just pulling up to my driveway at a few miles per hour and it slid right past it. That’s nuts. And dangerous. That’s bad tires, not the fault of the ABS.

 

Time for an ABS refresher.
From the owners manual:

From:
https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/what-is-abs

• ABS can stop your brakes from locking.
• ABS isn't designed to shorten stopping distances.
• Having ABS should reduce your chances of skidding.
• The ABS system isn't as effective on surfaces like mud, snow or gravel.

 

Delete

 

Well, I was wrong. It snowed quite a bit last night and I did the usual routine. ABS is still engaged. And still a royal pain in snow in town.

Time for more research. On my FJ, I'd spliced a switch in one of the OE wires which killed all that shit at once.

 

I'll be interested to see what happens with my new tires. I had the sliding while stopping problem on the standard-load, touring type tire that my Limited came with. Now I have E Load tires that are Severe Snow (Three Peak) rated. I'll be shocked if they are as bad as the standard load touring tires. I expect they will be lightyears better. Again, both E Load and Three Peak snow rated.

 

@hallcs i am not good with tires what type of tires are you tunning that are E rated. I am guessing my load range is SL for the blizzak dm v2 265 70 17

 

Yeah but those wont work in Quebec. Ill try my luck with some michelin next time maybe going stubbed. I dont know.

 

Yeah I wish I could ride on my 20s all year long I do a lot of highway driving and I just notice the difference.

 

Hi, I sorry it’s an older thread.. I haven’t seen an actual answer anywhere.

I have a 2017 Off Road. I’ve had it maybe a couple years now. Since then I’ve had the same 5 or so panic attacks from lockups from what I think aren’t all necessarily that aggressive of stop attempts.

but when I’m all packed with gear and I hit the brakes on a dry normal paved road and they lock up sending me into panic inducing fishtail swerves. When everyone else is coming to a. Stop like normal people. The guy behind me thought I had a wheel come off.

I’d love an update. If someone had a moment.

 

Sounds like you may be overweight. Manufacturers establish a max weight for a reason.

 

Wheel speed sensors don't usually lie. If ABS is coming on its because a wheel is locking up. It's designed to allow steering control not stop faster. That said I have seen wheel speed sensors drop out at low speeds mimicking a locked wheel but only on wheel speed sensors with an adjustable airgap that was out of spec.

 

It has happened without any extra load as well.

 

I’m pretty sure abs isn’t coming on in those instances, or I think I’d have felt, heard, or seen the light. Also, like I touched on, I was not jamming the brake pedal down in an emergency (at least for a couple of them) , just more rapid than a typical braking.

I would be getting some form of error for a sensor out I’d think.

 

Anecdotally: I’ve run 10’s of thousands of miles on Bridgestone Duelers and Michelin Defenders.

City driving in snow/ice/slush my ABS and traction control kicked in constantly with the stock Bridgestones. When I installed Defenders, I noticed an immediate difference. The ABS and traction control systems rarely engage with the defenders.

I’ll also add that traction control has without a doubt saved my ass on the highway on occasion. Those random times when the truck downshifts at the very moment you hit a scattered icy or wet patch.

 

I have never had this issue on snowy roads with Blizzak DMV2's. Only during hard braking and icy roads. All other times, I was able to stop and start as normal. This was both in a 2016 limited and 2020 Pro. Haven't had much of a chance to test anything in the 2023 Pro on snowy roads yet.